Microsoft Patent: More Money for Less Functions

[ Thanks to Britta Wuelfing for this link. ]

"The patent text, in all its arcane language, gets to the bottom line of a concept not totally unfamiliar to Microsoft: make selected portions and functionality of the operating system unavailable to users or limit their ability to add software applications or device drivers until an "agreed upon sum of money" is paid to "'unlock' or otherwise make available the restricted functionality." The patent seekers see this as a safeguard against the following situation: "One problem inherent in open architecture systems is they are generally licensed with complete use rights and/or functionality that may be beyond the need or desire of the system purchaser... [so that] users with limited needs pay the same rate for these systems as those with universal needs.""

Complete Story

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